Sunday, 6 June 2010

Angel Beats's house band Girls Dead Monster might get through lead singers faster than Spinal Tap get through drummers, but that doesn't stop the series from churning out singles from the series at a rate which even a certain light music club might be jealous of.

While the previous insert single, Thousand Enemies, was a bit of a damp squib and easily forgettable in all honest, Little Braver holds more potential right from the off, with an opening track of the same name which won't blow you away by any stretch of the imagination yet still holds a decent tune that threatens to worm its way into your brain with a catchy chorus to make for a pretty pleasing song to listen to on a hot, sunny summer's day.

This gives way to the more upbeat Shine Days, which quickly makes a compelling argument for itself that it should have been the A-side of this single in its own right. While this track sticks pretty rigidly to the template that has become recognisable for every Girls Dead Monster track we've hurt, there's something about its pop-rock delivery that catches my ear even when the track threatens to collapse in on itself into mediocrity. Yes, it's very simple, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.

Finally, the single rounds off with Answer Song, which also proves to be the weakest of the three tracks here, although that said it's a pretty solid offering which again fits into that aforementioned template while just about doing a good enough job to stop you reaching for the stop button. It is, however, the most forgettable of the three songs by some distance when all is said and done.

Overall then, Little Braver doesn't quite hit the spot for me as Crow Song did, but then again it's far, far superior to the rather mediocre Thousand Enemies, meaning that it at least has me wanting to listen to it again unlike that particular single which bored me rather quickly. They're still no Houkago Tea Time when it comes to catchy tunes that refuse to let you go, but as anime insert songs go Little Braver isn't a bad listen at all.